cannabisnews.com: Both Sides Speak Out on I-148





Both Sides Speak Out on I-148
Posted by CN Staff on October 12, 2004 at 20:13:39 PT
By Jenny Johnson, Staff Reporter
Source: Ravalli Republic 
When Paul Befumo's father underwent chemotherapy for lung cancer, he was so sick he couldn't eat. While his father struggled to stay comfortable in the last months of his life, Befumo and the rest of the family couldn't help him, he said. There wasn't anything that helped the nausea.Since his father's death two years ago, Befumo has championed the use of medical marijuana in Montana and is the primary writer of Initiative 148, which would legalize the growing and possession of marijuana for medical use in Montana.
"I hated seeing what my dad went through - not being able to control the nausea," Befumo said. "When there is something out there that works as well as medical marijuana, our doctor should have been able to offer it as an option."  If the initiative passes, Montana would become one of 10 states with medical marijuana laws.The initiative allows patients with certain ailments to use the drug under the supervision of their doctor. If the initiative becomes law, only medical doctors would be allowed to certify that a patient should be registered by the Department of Public Health and Human Services, which would issue an identification card allowing the patient or their caregiver to grow and posses up to six marijuana plants or one ounce of marijuana.Opponents argue that possession of marijuana is still illegal under federal law and is classified as a Level 1 control drug, and that's why physicians shouldn't prescribe the drug. While several court decisions have found in favor of the states that have medical marijuana, including Vermont, Alaska, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Maine and Hawaii, those cases are on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court with a decision expected in the next term.Opponents say allowing the use of marijuana in some cases and not in others would be hard to enforce and make a mess of the courts. And legalizing it, even for Montana's sickest people, sends a bad message to youth, according to Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman."I see the measure as creating problems for society, even for medical use," he said.The Montana Medical Association and other statewide organizations oppose the initiative.Brian Zins, executive vice president and CEO of the Montana Medical Association, said the measure is unnecessary as there is already a Federal Drug Administration-approved drug on the market with the same active ingredient contained in marijuana."People that need that type of assistance can obtain it through existing drugs," he said.Befumo said Tuesday putting people with painful illnesses in jail for using a drug recommended by their doctor sends a worse message."There is no justification for sending innocent people to jail," he said referring to a Montana man who spent 18 months in the state prison for smoking marijuana to combat the pain of multiple sclerosis. "I'm 100 percent confident that if people understand all of the facts, they'd support the measure."In a poll conducted last month by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, Inc. for Lee Newspapers of Montana, about 58 percent of voters support the initiative. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.Befumo said many nurses and caregivers in Montana support the initiative, which narrowly defines exactly what illnesses can be treated with marijuana."There are no loop holes in the interpretation of the statute," he said.All of the 4,000-5,000 people in Montana diagnosed each year with cancer could be candidates for medical marijuana, which is reported to suppress nausea and vomiting, reduce muscle spasms in people with multiple sclerosis and relieve the intra-ocular pressure of glaucoma.Note: Initiative would legalize medical marijuana.Source: Ravalli Republic (MT)Author: Jenny Johnson, Staff ReporterCopyright: 2004 Ravalli RepublicPublished: Wednesday, October 13, 2004Contact: editor ravallinews.comWebsite: http://www.ravallinews.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Montana Careshttp://www.montanacares.org/Voting on Pot Issue http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19629.shtmlDeputy Drug Czar Opposes Legalizing Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19612.shtmlMontana To Vote on Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19528.shtmlMedical Marijuana Vote About Legalizing Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19431.shtml 
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on October 13, 2004 at 16:27:09 PT
Right on, Kap!
"I'd like to frog-march these bloodsuckers at bayonet-point into the nearest chemo ward and have them tell those poor miserable, hairless, sunken-eyed wretches that they are doing it all for 'the children'."
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on October 13, 2004 at 08:47:14 PT
kapt
I have no idea why this war on cannabis is still going on. The majority of people at least feel that medical marijuana should be allowed. One thing I've learned doing CNews all these years is that what the people want doesn't matter. 
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on October 13, 2004 at 07:47:59 PT:
That's 'sadomasochism'
Sorry about the mis-spelling, but this brings back horrble memories for me, and I get so p***ed at these jerks; I'd like to frog-march these bloodsuckers at bayonet-point into the nearest chemo ward and have them tell those poor miserable, hairless, sunken-eyed wretches that they are doing it all for 'the children'.Swine. Sanctimonius, disgusting SWINE.
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on October 13, 2004 at 07:41:07 PT:
Whatever happened to the Best & Brightest?
They sure don't seem to be populating the ranks of the government, of late.Okay, all you anti Einsteins, one more time:Chemo causes unremitting nausea. Nausea is when you can't keep anything in your stomach, not even a pill. Medicine in pill form can't stay in a chemo patient's stomach long enough to do any good because they barf it up like they barf anything else up. The Marinol that they are mentioning by proxy is in a pill form. Chemo patients barf up pills. Chemo patients will barf up Marinol. Period. I don't care if a Rabbi or The Pope prays over it, it still won't stay down.What do you want them to do, fish the pill out of their vomitus and try, try again? I long ago came to the conclusion that antis are closet practitioners of sadomasochisism. They'd have to be to put helpless, desperately suffering people through this torture. They were born in the wrong era; The Catholic Church could have used their kind in The Inquisition... 
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